Weighted, plastic lift arm for enhanced-function flush handles
A plastic lift arm for toilet flushers having enhanced-function flush handles—such as a Flush Handle Night Light carrying a standard, 9-volt battery—that exerts a torque sufficient to maintain an enhanced-function flush handle in a generally horizontal position when not in use. The plastic lift arm completely encapsulates a steel or iron counterweight and thus eliminates the need to plate the metal to prevent rusting in a moist environment. In order to maximize leverage, the counter-weight is located close to the conventional series of holes for chain clips. The counterweight has a diameter as large as possible consistent with the need to preserve moldable wall thickness. The lift arm may be bent or shortened to conform to almost any existing installation without compromising its ability to maintain the enhanced-function flush handle in a horizontal, at-rest position.
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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIXNot Applicable
SEQUENCE LISTINGNot Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to the lift arms found inside conventional, North American toilet tanks, in particular to the plastic lift arms attached either permanently or removably to enhanced-function flush handles. An enhanced-function flush handle, such as the Flush Handle Night Light (marketed as the Flush Light™ and first disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,203 to Olshausen (2001), and further developed by Olshausen in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/967,227, filed Oct. 19, 2004) delivers a benefit—e.g., illuminates a toilet bowl, or dispenses a fragrance, etc.—which it can only accomplish by containing non-plumbing components (e.g. a circuit, a battery, a fragrance pack, a voice synthesizer, etc.) that cause it to be somewhat heavier than conventional, generally hollow, plumbing-only flush handles. All flush handles (variously called “actuators,” “tank levers,” “operating handles,” etc.), including enhanced-function flush handles such as the Flush Light™, are intended to remain generally horizontal when at rest. They look better when squared to the toilet's tank, and they also function better. A horizontal orientation converts a downward impulse applied by hand into a counterclockwise rotation of both the flush handle and the lift arm rigidly attached to the flush handle more efficiently than any other initial orientation. When rotated, the lift arm lifts up on, and opens, a water valve inside the tank, and so initiates flushing of the toilet.
A standard Flush Light™ contains a 9-volt, snap-top battery and consequently weighs about 47 grams more than an ordinary flush handle, even an old-fashioned flush handle made of cast zinc. For a Flush Light™ to remain horizontal when at rest, the lift arm to which it is removably, or possibly permanently, attached must exert a torque slightly greater than the opposite torque exerted by the Flush Light™ with its battery installed. These opposing torques are exerted about the axis that passes centrally through the spud and nut used to attach the Flush Light™ to a toilet tank (preview
A biased balance of torques in favor of the lift arm is achieved automatically for the Flush Light™ when its lift arm is made of metal. A plastic lift arm, by contrast, turns out to have too little mass, if it is of conventional design. And if, in addition, the plastic lift arm is made to be bendable to conform easily to existing installations, and if, furthermore, the plastic lift arm is provided with cut-off notches to facilitate shortening, once again to conform easily to existing installations, then the inadequacy of the plastic lift arm's mass becomes still more acute. If the plastic lift arm is bent, and/or if it is shortened, its torque about the axis is necessarily reduced. Nor can a counterweight be simply added on, like a hood ornament, to a plastic lift arm's free end. Many installers, by habit, cut off the “unneeded” portions of a lift arm, and so, without thinking, may simply amputate the weight.
Exactly which dense metal to use for a counterweight also is problematic, inasmuch as lead soon must be phased out of all consumer products (beginning in California in January, 2007, for electronics). Brass and copper are expensive. Stainless steel is difficult to cut. Which leaves iron and common steel, except that they rust unless they're plated. But plating adds to expense and, if thin, will have pores that admit moisture, which leads to rust.
The present invention offers a plastic lift arm able to balance a Flush Light™ as well as other, enhanced-function flush handles (such as a flush handle comprising an air freshener or a clock) using a simple, bare iron, or common steel counterweight, while at the same time integrating easily into almost any existing installation.
SURVEY OF BACKGROUND ARTVery few utility patents have been granted on plastic lift arms for toilet flushers, possibly because such a hee-haw, low-brow subject has not seemed unduly sexy. U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,245 to Jones (2000) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,518,703 to Haldopaulos et al. (1970) both show plastic lift arms, but without a provision for compensating the torque of their attached, conventional flush handles. In fact, the applicant's own U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,203 on the Flush Handle Night Light, trademarked the Flush Light™, and his pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/967,227 on an improvement thereto never mention the issue. The reason they don't is that all of the conventional, metal lift arms adapted for use with Flush Light™ prototypes had always, and very easily, compensated for the torque of the battery-loaded device. Only when trying out a plastic lift arm did the torque-related issues described above arise.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention encapsulates the requisite counter-weight entirely within the plastic of the lift arm, thereby making possible the use of an inexpensive, bare iron or common steel weight. Because the encapsulation must be total to prevent the counterweight from rusting, the present invention splits the usual lift arm into two halves such that each half terminates in an open cylindrical socket that fits closely about a cylindrical counterweight and that dovetails snugly into the socket of the other, lift arm half. The close fit about the counterweight strengthens the joining of the lift arm halves, and the snug dovetailing of the halves permits plastic cement to seal their joint chemically, thus permanently bonding the lift arm halves together and excluding moisture. If a chemically inactive plastic, such as Acetal, is used to make the lift arm halves, then the cement will have to bond the halves mechanically, for which purpose the surfaces to be bonded are first roughened.
In order to maximize its leverage, the present invention locates the counterweight behind, but as close as possible to, a conventionally located and spaced-apart series of holes that facilitates the connection, by means of a clip, of beaded and link chains to the lift arm. In the present invention, the cross sections of the lift arm, including, most importantly, the cross sections of the weight sockets, are aligned such that the left-hand threaded nut universally employed to attach front-mounted toilet-flushers to toilet tanks (a ⅝″-18 LH nut or its metric equivalent) is able to pass cleanly over the entire length of the lift arm. The inside diameter of the nut and the need to pre-serve a moldable wall thickness for the weight sockets are the only constraints on counterweight's diameter, which otherwise is chosen to be as large as possible.
As it happens, there is just enough available leverage from a position close to, but just behind, the conventional series of clip holes, and the inside diameter of the common nut is just large enough, to permit an iron or steel counterweight to be encapsulated that in fact will balance a Flush Light™ carrying a typical 9-volt battery, even if the lift arm is bent at an angle of 45° or its length is shortened at one of the conventional cut-off notches.
Some important objects of the present invention are thus
- 1) To provide a plastic lift arm for toilet flushers that will counterbalance a non-conventional, enhanced-function flush handle but that in its plumbing function is familiar and conventional.
- 2) To provide a plastic lift arm containing a cheap iron or steel counterweight without having to plate the metal, despite the lift arm's moist working environment.
- 3) To provide a plastic lift arm encapsulating a counterweight having the largest possible diameter that yet preserves moldable wall thickness.
- 4) To take a pedestrian, household object, a toilet-flusher lift arm, and give to it a new function and a new look, thus to intrigue and attract customers.
These and still-further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following drawing, detailed description, and appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGReferring to the drawing, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts or elements throughout the several views, and wherein arrowheads indicate physically-composite objects whose numbered resolution into constituent parts occurs only when it is germane to the discussion:
Inasmuch as modifications and alterations apparent to one skilled in the art may be made to the herein described embodiments of the present invention without departing from the scope and spirit thereof, it is intended that all matter contained herein be interpreted in an illustrative, and not in a limiting, sense with respect to the invention claimed in the following claims and equivalents thereto.
Claims
1. A toilet flusher comprising a flush handle and a lift arm, said toilet flusher being adapted to transmit motion to-said lift arm about an axis of rotation when said toilet flusher is attached to the water tank of a toilet and said flush handle is actuated by a person, said lift arm being made of plastic and comprising a socket and a counterweight, said counterweight being contained within said socket, and said socket is adapted to prevent moisture from entering said socket.
2. A lift arm as in claim 1 comprising a first half and a second half, wherein said first half comprises a portion of said socket and said second half comprises the remainder of said socket.
3. A lift arm as in claim 2 wherein said portion of said socket comprises a male dovetail member and said remainder of said socket comprises a mortise, and said portion and said remainder of said socket are sealed when said male dovetail member is inserted fully into said mortise and is cemented therein.
4. A left arm as in claim 3 wherein said mortise and said male dovetail member cemented therein are bonded chemically by cement.
5. A left arm as in claim 3 wherein said mortise and said male dovetail member cemented therein are joined mechanically by cement.
6. A lift arm as in claim 1 comprising at least one perforation and said socket is adjacent to said perforation closest to said axis.
7. A lift arm as in claim 1 that is molded.
8. A toilet flusher as in claim 1 comprising a nut for attaching said toilet flusher to said water tank, and said nut is able to pass over the entire visible length of said lift arm.
9. A toilet flusher comprising a flush handle and a lift arm, said toilet flusher being adapted to transmit motion to said lift arm about an axis of rotation when said toilet flusher is attached to the water tank of a toilet and said flush handle is actuated by a person, said lift arm being made of plastic and comprising a counterweight, said flush handle comprising non-plumbing components, and said flush handle remains in a substantially horizontal position when not in use to flush said toilet.
10. A flush handle as in claim 9 in which said non-plumbing components comprise an electrical circuit.
11. A flush handle as in claim 9 in which said non-plumbing components comprise a battery.
12. A flush handle as in claim 9 in which said non-plumbing components comprise a fragrance pack.
13. A lift arm as in claim 9 that is molded.
14. A toilet flusher as in claim 9 comprising a nut for attaching said toilet flusher to said water tank, and said nut is able to pass over the entire visible length of said lift arm.
Type: Application
Filed: May 5, 2006
Publication Date: Nov 8, 2007
Inventor: Michael Olshausen (Washington, DC)
Application Number: 11/418,247
International Classification: E03D 5/00 (20060101);